Jobs, not in the UK :(

[Ukastronomer]

I don't know what it is like in other countries but here there is unemployment, and in the sectors that need it most.

If you are "qualified" or have "status, a good background" you are ok, but if for any reason you have minimal qualifications you have no chance.

My son has been looking for work for a very long timer, being disabled he has minimal chance, why, because all the jobs such as call centres, advice lines, help lines, have gone to Africa or India.

It is the multi multi million pound companies such as the banks, supermarkets that are the cause.

I ALWAYS use "staffed" checkouts when I shop, and never the automated ones, if we all used the automated ones then that would be more staff out of work.

[JeniSkunk]

And those corporations get to pay a minimal pittance in tax, if that, via 'creative accounting' (aka screwing the tax laws over to breaking point, and getting governments to pay them to do so).

As for those self-serve checkouts, I point blank refuse to use them.
When I go shopping, I am a CUSTOMER.
I am NOT being paid by the corporations to be an unpaid check-out operator.

[Ukastronomer]

I never thought of that


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[raymo]

My wife and I also refuse to use them, but there are too few of us to make the slightest difference to the supermarkets' strategies.
raymo

[Ukastronomer]

I have this worry that one day there will only be Amazon :( :( :(


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[JeniSkunk]

A global monopoly, with mere national governments being at their beck and call, is the end-game goal of ALL global multi-national corporations.

[Outcast]

I'd contend we are already there!

[JeniSkunk]

I disagree with that assessment, Carlton, as in the majority of product types, there is still serious product manufacturer and brand competition, without anything readily approaching a clear monopoly.
It's only really been in computers that there's been anything close to such a clear cut global monopoly. Microsoft Windows.

[Outcast]

I respectfully disagree Jen, whilst there are still plenty of 'different' products on the market, when you examine a lot of them closely, you find that many of the 'different' brands are in fact owned at the macro level by the same companies. Where this is not the case, there is little to no competition in terms of pricing structure & if one were a complete cynic, one might consider whether this is in fact deliberate....

Additionally, when you look at the market closely, products seem to be loosely grouped into three areas... cheap, moderately priced & expensive... quality between some of these items, depending on exactly what we are talking about can sometimes reflect the pricing point but, at times, there is little to distinquish them in terms of overall quality, only the suggestion that one is better than the other because, it costs more...

When you examine the three broad categories I refer to above, there is little to no competition within a category in terms of price or quality...

In Australia, this is magnified even further by the fact that we have a relatively small consumer market so, no 'discount' in terms of consumer purchasing power and even more influential, when you look at the importer/distributor groups responsible for most 'consumer products' you find that there is indeed a 'monopoly' in terms of very few (often, only one in fact) importer/distributors for a wide range of products within a broad range of consumer items...

Close to home for us... TASCO would be an example of an importer/distributor monopoly as they are now responsible for Meade, Skywatcher & Celestron (and possibly some others, I can't recall)... they completely control the market for those brands.

IMHO, we have an illusion of competition, particularly in this country but, when you sit down carefully & compare pricing closely, they are all within a few dollars of each other.. fuel is probably the prime example but, there are many, many, many others that fall into this type of price structuring...

We might not indeed have quite reached the 'corporate nirvana' you allude to but, in all practicality, I think we are already there in terms of effect on the consumer market...

[xelasnave]

There must be plenty of jobs for folk who manage accounts and robot building.
Alex

[OICURMT]

And Walmart (https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/08/21/amazon-versus-walmart-goliath-versus-goliath/), which outstrips Amazon (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanmarcfrancois/2020/01/15/amazon-vs-walmart-the-next-decade-will-decide-which-comes-out-on-top/)by a long way in revenue... but Amazon is catching up F.A.S.T.

[xelasnave]

The reality is employment is changing.
The ordinary folk are being sidelined.
Opportunity is fading for the majority.
Times are changing and the masses are neglected.
Social security will vanish and the only question is how will the haves put down those cast aside.
Invest in riot control companies as they have the best potential for growth.
Forget climate change that is the least of our worries.

This is not a political comment just an observation of reality.
Alex

[Ukastronomer]

Are many Walmart US customers REALLY weird never seen in the UK

I won't post images of people that look all but "normal"

:)

[xelasnave]

I find it amusing to look at people in a shopping centre and how you never see folk like you see in the movies.
Alex

[sn1987a]

Self employed Man and a Truck removalist here. When people are employed they move up into better accommodation and when they lose their jobs they have to move out to cheaper accommodation. Win both ways, get paid to work out and Truck is a great big dob transporter. :D

[OICURMT]

Yes and no...


For Australians... Walmart's are superstores which is basically a Target, Specsavers, Hair Salon, Pharmacy, Anaconda, JB Hifi, RepCo Auto Repair, Supercheap Auto Parts, Bob Jane T-mart and Coles, along with a Gun Shop, Bottle Shop and Fast Food contained within one store.


Walmart keeps everything low priced via a business model which 1) pays low wages 2) make everyone who is not critical to the operation casual workers (reducing benefits) and 3) large volume turnover. On a positive side, Walmart employs a lot of disabled people.


Consequently, it attracts a very broad demographic, especially low income people who Australian's would consider to be "Bogan-ish". There is a website dedicated to these types of people (http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/).


At our Walmart, there tends to be a more of a middle-class demographic due to proximity to better neighborhoods, a university and a lot of Cowboys. :lol:

[FlashDrive]

Check the Car Industries ... you'd be surprised to who owns what .. !!

Some years ago I read that Lamborghini was owned by several Car makers.

There is a lot of this going on ...!!

Lamborghini is owned by Audi AG, which is 99.7% owned by Volkswagen AG, which in turn is 30.9% owned by Porsche AG. Audi assumed ownership of Lamborghini in 1998. Basically, Lamborghini is owned by Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche.

This may have changed since then ... !!

Col...

[JeniSkunk]

Your link to People Of Walmart is broken.
It's pointing to http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/www.peopleofwalmart.com
Correct link - https://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

[AndyG]

Far out - I thought I was the only one who thought this. Thanks for providing a sense of "normalcy". I only go to the shops around 2-3 times per year at the most. My Wife does all the shopping, sparing me the pain.

When I go there, I feel like I'm at the zoo, inside the cage.

[xelasnave]

What is really scarry is I am no doubt the marker of normal... Behind the beard is a rather reasonable rational person. No beard and a suit I could be a lawyer or a real estate agent.
Man real estate tells you about crazy.
I worked a posh suburb, you know professionals, folk you go to for your tax return or surgery etc...and of course being only the hired help you listen and nod..I have had to nod to statements you don't would not believe...

Once I was prepared to consider myself a little unusual.
No more.
...I find my thoughts are rational, well considered backed by evidence etc.able to manufacture humour or enjoy it..you look at folk you know and really don't you find they are a little odd.

So many folk I talk to are just over the top..they want to kill their neighbour because they leave their bin lid open or the like..I try to say chill but that sends them into a lather punctuated with vile expletives.

Folk think I am odd because I am basically a hermit..even in the city...but I just find most people are irrational and mostly feeding egos that are insatiable.

I do hide behind my beard..no one wants to speak to a weirdo...I am not noticed thank goodness.

I listen to conversations at the shops ...I could write a book...so many ladies telling the kids..don't tell your father..re a purchaser of lollies for example.

And I am so sick of blokes telling me they will smash someone's face in..why tell me do it...or a crime boss I know telling everyone he has put out a contract on his/ was best mate...h CK if I was going to take someone out you would not know and I would be first on site to cry over the body.

The belief that possessions define a man..look at me I own this and it's one of a kind..who gives a damn.

And don't you love the guy who has all the girls after him...on his account.

And all the fighters...except they have never trained or been in a decent scrap. Look them in the eye and watch the blood drain from their face.

Alex

[AndyG]

If you published a book, I'd buy it Alex. Your insights make for a great read. I'm sure I'm not alone here on that idea.

[xelasnave]

I don't think anyone could believe my life.
I sometimes think back and I really can't believe I did those things.
Miami Vice is like the three little pigs to what I have experienced.
Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction must have been looking at me when they said that.
And what is so hard to live with I am the only one who knows just how full on it was.
I look at movies, when I have to.. family watching a movie so I do to... I hate fiction, it's so not there...just fools writing about a world they have not been in..
But honestly I have not seen anything close to what I have been through..how I survived, the battles, the fights the girls it just blows me away..as I said I am the only one who knows it all. My book would have to present as fiction as no one would believe only half my experience
Anyways that's more than I should say.
Alex

[Ukastronomer]

In the UK farmers more than most then the leisure industry (waiters etc) are all complaining about leaving the EU, they are complaining ONLY because they will not be able to get low paid foreign workers during "picking" time for crops and tourist time

My solution has always been STOP complaining and pay DECENT wages then you can employ UK born people not people who come just for starvation wages who then save what they can and go home to Poland and so on.


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[xelasnave]

Hi Jeremy,
Whats the pay and what should it be?
If at decent money would your lad go picking?
Alex

[OICURMT]

Thanks, fixed it in my original post.


Today's posts on PoW are hilarious... the theme is the Corona Virus.

[Ukastronomer]

Hard to pick from a wheelchair isn't it ;)



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[xelasnave]

A little...but hydroponic farming has stuff at that level.
Alex

[Ukastronomer]

Well as you are so enlightened perhaps you can say who and where in Wales as you appear keen for him to work :)

[h0ughy]

I am sure no intent from Alex, Jeremy . You can take this to pm if you have any questions. This thread is now closed